Bang for the buck, good finds, best glass in the $100-300 range.

I am a GIANT fan of the "cheap, high quality bubbler" thread. I believe I've read every single page... Kinda sad!

Towards the beginning of that behemoth lots of cool, sometimes domestic, but more mid prices pieces were mentioned.
I was thinking it might be cool to have an "in between", "bang for th buck", "mid-ranged", "Toyota corolla", glass thread. I don't recall their being a dedicated thread, but if there is- please feel free to delete this.

I am a GIANT fan of the "cheap, high quality bubbler" thread. I believe I've read every single page... Kinda sad!

Towards the beginning of that behemoth lots of cool, sometimes domestic, but more mid prices pieces were mentioned.
I was thinking it might be cool to have an "in between", "bang for th buck", "mid-ranged", "Toyota corolla", glass thread. I don't recall their being a dedicated thread, but if there is- please feel free to delete this.

@redglassgallery makes some pretty nice stuff in the price range you are talking about. He sells via his iOffer page and (IIRC) offers a discount for FC peeps. One of my first "modern" bubblers was one of his.

Here's a couple by Wicked Sands. They're known for their sandblasting, but their worked glass is nice and pretty affordable. ALT sells out of their stuff regularly, but it seems to restock (except for specialties like their Breaking Bad and Sons of Anarchy series).

Mini Sidecar $100. I own this piece, and it's great. Mouthpiece seals well on my mouth, no water getting too far up the sidecar. It's also a very balanced piece. From any angle things look symmetrical. Not a huge concern, but I look for symmetry as a sign the blower really cared about the work.

@syrupy , I have always admired Wicked Sands work from afar! They seem to have that theme of symmetry and always look classy, particularly for the price. The work on that last piece is fantastically understated.

A lot of folks don't like all the decals fired onto the glass, but I admit they have kinda grown on me.
SB does some nice scientific work in this range, no bubbles, consistently thick glass and joints, excellent ground joints, nice variety of downstems/percs, etc.

Also, in this price range, if you want quality American glass made by good honest folks who can offer you constant communication and who will stand by their work, I would say look into SSFG (Soul Shine Family Glass).

They may not be the fanciest or the coolest, but they are about the most sincere and candid people you can hope to deal with in the glass world. I decided quite a while back to not buy glass from anyone but them anymore.

A lot of folks don't like all the decals fired onto the glass, but I admit they have kinda grown on me.
SB does some nice scientific work in this range, no bubbles, consistently thick glass and joints, excellent ground joints, nice variety of downstems/percs, etc.

Click to expand...

I wish there was more sheldon black stuff in my neck of the woods. His recyclers seem to be really unique and functional.

This piece actually had a thread a while back when a member was trying to get a group deal. General thoughts were that it's more of a novelty, since you have to move a huge amount of water to start any action and the drag would be big with no real control of it.

Looks sweet though! I actually saw a recycler with the turbine perc in Oregon, so it turbines coming up, and whirlpools going down!